Please don’t laugh. This is in fact a serious question that I have never heard addressed, though it apparently occurred to Michelangelo!
Tomorrow I am recording a Youtube segment in my ongoing series on ideas of “Death and Afterlife” in the ancient Western world that will deal with our early gospel narratives on the discovery of Jesus’ “empty tomb.” The matter of whether Jesus was put in a tomb or not is hotly disputed among some scholars, though I tend to go with our earliest account–which comes from Paul not any of the Gospels–that Jesus was buried and raised–or, quite literally, “lifted up” (ἐγήγερται) from his grave (1 Corinthians 15:4). Whether such a transformation as Paul envisions it left an empty tomb or not is a moot question. As Paul could surely say, “He is not here, he has been lifted up to sit at the right hand of God.” Paul was not overly interested in bones or corpses, much less ashes, as he makes clear in that very chapter in discussing “what kind of a body” do those “sleeping in the dust,” come forth–but definitely not flesh and blood.
Anyway, I thought this post from the past might be both relevant–and maybe a bit entertaining. Please share as you are moved to do so.
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